Barron’s - Investing Insights Ratings and Reviews

Solid app, but could use improvements

I gave this app 4 stars because app is solid, but I found it wanting in the following two ways:

1. Search Feature: Their search feature might be where the app is most deficient. It’s hard to search for articles on the app. If there’s a way to search for articles, I can’t figure out. I can only search for stock symbols, which give the 5 most recent articles that mention the stock. A lot of times that’s not enough. It would be great if we could search articles by terms, authors, date, etc.

2. “Open in App”: When I open a Barron’s article I found in Google, my Safari web browser gives me the option to open the article in the app. But doing so just opens the app to wherever I left off the last time I was on the app. With no way to search for articles in the app, this can be frustrating. The only way to read these articles seems to be by signing in to my Barron’s account on my web browser, which I don’t want to do.

Other than that, the app is pretty solid. Nice user interface, nice font, good articles.

Not User Friendly at Times

Overall I enjoy the App. What is frustrating is I will receive a email from Barron’s with articles of interest. When I click on a article, I’m routed to the internet asking me to subscribe. Why not route me to the App where I have already subscribed and paid Barron’s their fee. When I go to the App, I will try to find the articles they emailed me with no success. This is frustrating since I’m already a paid subscriber.

Why can’t I print?!

It seems that they absolutely do not allow any printing from the app. They apparently also made it impossible to copy an article to paste into a different app and print from there. While I understand that they’re trying to protect their intellectual property, it’s hugely annoying and inconvenient. I mean, is it a huge problem for them, enough to justify annoying their customers? Or did some tech in IT say, hey people possibly maybe can sometimes cause lost business by printing and distributing articles so let’s block everybody including our honest customers. I’m sorry, but I still like paper for those few articles I want to annotate and file for future reference. The saving of articles in the app just does not provide the same convenience. Plus, I’m older and my eyes get tired faster reading on screens that with paper. It’s stupid, makes me want to cancel my subscription.

App Dissimilar From Barrons Web Page

I have had the Barrons app for a number of years. It is good for quick access to a story but it seems deficient in depth and access to all aspects of Barrons. I don’t have a lot of time so certain timely information is important to me. As examples I have Barrons emails sent regarding stories. When you click on a story from the email it opens in the web to Barrons. It then asks if I want the app, which I have, so why not open up in the app.
I like the data option which only appears in the web version and there is no access from the app. If you pick the e edition access from the app it seems to take forever to load. I have no time or patience, so its not the best option either. A good app would be more like the web version.

Older iPad? No Barron's for YOU!

Those of us with iPads not capable of running iOS 10 can no longer even use prior compatible versions as of now. The old app tells us to download the "new and enhanced" version but we cannot because the App Store says it requires iOS 10. And the older version, while still downloadable, simply tells us to upgrade. I've never had this happen with ANY other app. It is find to not support older iOS apps but not fine to just cut off those of us who don't get the latest hardware every year. Let us use the old version unsupported! My six year old iPad 3 works fine with iOS 9 for everything I want to do .... Except read Barron's. Disappointed. maybe the website will still work.

Stutters, glitches and crashes

First time subscriber and user of the mobile app. The app crashes for me on both ipad and iphone. Before it eventually but inevitably does, I experience stuttery scrolling behavior. Also, parts of the content is missing, for example in the recent piece on biotech companies, the biotech index chart would flash for a fraction of a second an disappear, never to be seen again on both phone and tablet, unless you use the tablet in landscape mode. Really annoying and disappointing. I’ve used some exemplary apps from other free news providers. You can do better.

Developer Response ,

Hello, thank you for reaching out regarding this issue. We would like to assist you, could you please email us the following details at product@barrons.com?

Device type
iOs version
Barrons app version
Is the device jailbroken?

We look forward to hearing from you.

Obnoxious video ads

Recently the app starts playing annoying video ads with sound while I am trying to read. I tried muting the ad, but it starts up again as I scroll down a little to read the story. I am paying for my Barron’s subscription and I am disgusted by these obnoxious ads. I have to turn my sound volume down to zero while using the app, and then remember to turn it back up when done. The app needs a way to choose sound off all the time.

Also it now makes me log in constantly. The app is updated weekly and requires I log in after each update.

Bug on comment

1. I clicked on a story 2. Click on the comments icon 3. Type my comments or I even tried it blank 4. When I click on sign up to post, the app crashes 5. Expected behavior: when I click on the comment icon, I should be single signed on to the comments page and only the submit or cancel buttons be available. I should not be asked to sign up for posting the comments. When is this bug going to be fixed? I’m frustrated with the application crashing since I can’t write comments.

Bugs with login and video ads

I’m a subscriber to the content, but the bugs in the app are interfering with my ability to read articles:

The app asks you to login to view content when you’re already logged in. Clicking login after this notification does nothing. You have to close the app and reopen to view subscriber content.

Video ads play by default and sound is on. Scrolling away from the article with the embedded ad doesn’t stop the audio. Closing the app is the only way to stop it.

Crashes Constantly

I’m usually patient and rarely write a review, but I have to since this app continually gets worse and worse. It crashes at least 10-20 times each week as I read the magazine, and god forbid you pause for any length of time since then I have to close the app and restart it on my own. Daily articles are fine, but I can’t get Saturday delivery of the paper where I live and don’t want to wait until Tuesday to read the content. However, it is getting worse and worse making the value drop week in and week out in my eyes.